Virgin Blacktop Screens During Jersey Shore Film Festival
Topical Coming of Age Tribute To Skate Culture Plays Fri & Sat At The Berkeley
Back in October 1977, hundreds of teenagers descended on Asbury Park for SKA-BO Eastern Skateboard Association championship that resulted in few accolades for an eclectic crew from Rockland County, NY.
Over 40 years later, those boys return as men, by way of Charlie Samuels’ award-winning film Virgin Blacktop, screening noon Friday and 3 pm Saturday at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel as a part of the 12th Annual Jersey Shore Film Festival.
“I didn’t know it then but I started the film in 1976,” said Filmmaker Charlie Samuels, a photographer by trade, who fell his first time on a skateboard in 1975 but got hooked by practicing alone in a cemetery. The film is named for his experiences at Rockland Cemetary.
“…Despite their vastly different ages, races and economic backgrounds [and with their parents’ hands-off approach, they formed a competitive, traveling team of spirited outsiders called the ‘Wizards,’ the film’s synopsis reads. “Now, nearly 40 years later, they remain lifelong friends but their lives have followed very different paths – from boardrooms to jail cells.”
The Wizards came from Jamaal Bey, a member who almost died when he was run over by a car at age 5. Bey was photographed by famed Skateboarder magazine photographer Glen E. Friedman and took third place in high jump during the aforementioned national championships in Asbury Park.
Other members included” Michael Offen, their youngest who’s IQ fell in the genius category; he took first place in the same championship. There was Christopher Kinzel, who taught sailing at 14, attended the elite Chote Rosemary school, and built a 48-foot steel schooner at age 20. He took third place in the slalom during at NESA northeast regionals. And then, there’s the Wizard who became the Champion amateur freestyle skateboarder in the world back in 1988 before turning pro.
Years later, members of the crew returned to Asbury Park, shooting at the abandoned Deal Lake Motel pool, a now defunct popular skate destination. But it was a 1994 reunion after the Wizards build a skateboard ramp inside Samuels’ NYC apartment that the film’s concept was born.
In the end, this coming of age story, at times uplifting and heartbreaking, touches on the resurgence of skate culture in Asbury Park, at times headquartered along the waterfront, at times in downtown parking lots. In recent years, via boardwalk redeveloper Madison Marquette’s support, Forth Union, a temporary skate park existed inside the Carousel building.
Tickets for the noon Friday and 3 pm Saturday Virgin Blacktop screening at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel [1401 Ocean Ave] as a part of the 12th Annual Jersey Shore Film Festival.
The festival continues through Friday night, with a 6:30 pm Awards Dinner being held 6:30 pm Sunday at The Asbury [210 Fifth Ave]. There are 10 am filmmakers’ networking events, panel discussions, and a host of screenings on the bill.
Among them is Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock, screening 7:30 pm at The Asbury’s Baronet Rooftop Theater. It is an opportunity to meet and greet the filmmakers and pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of Woodstock. Trailers of films from the festival will also be screened. Entry is $1, the average price of a movie ticket in 1969. For more information, click here.
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